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Funding Opportunity Description

Support of Young Researchers in Computational Neuroscience

Training excellent young scientists is of fundamental importance for
the establishment of a new research field. Besides high-class
scientific projects, an excellent education of young scientists and
scholars is a central goal of the National Bernstein Network. Within
the National Bernstein Network, the BMBF supports since 2004 four
Bernstein Centers for Computational Neuroscience with over 40 million
Euros. The centers in Berlin, Freiburg, Göttingen and Munich, named
after the German physiologist Julius Bernstein (1839-1917), form the
core of the young field of computational neuroscience in Germany. The
Bernstein Centers support the training of young scientists by the
establishment of dedicated training programs in the post-graduate phase
(e.g. Master's and PhD programs), by junior research groups within the
Centers and by organization of international advanced courses such as
world-renowned Summer School 'Advanced Course in Computational
Neuroscience'.

In the beginning of 2007, the National Bernstein Network for
Computational Neuroscience was extended by Bernstein Collaborations
and Bernstein Groups and will be expanded in direction of applications
by the topic of neurotechnology in 2008. In the Bernstein Groups,
junior scientists are supported in local structures, thereby
contributing to the promotion of the research field . The Bernstein
Focus: Neurotechnology will incorporate coordinated measures for the
qualification of young scientists and mechanisms of technology
transfer. Besides the above mentioned measures, a dedicated funding
measure for the promotion of young scientists within the Computational
Neuroscience was established by the BMBF in 2006: The 'National
Bernstein Network for Computational Neuroscience - Bernstein Award'.

For the sustainable establishment and strengthening of computational
neuroscience in Germany, it is of essential importance to attract
excellent young scientists and scholars both from within and outside of
Germany. Besides high-class scientific projects, an excellent education
of young scientists and scholars is a central objective of the
Bernstein Network Computational Neuroscience. The Bernstein Centers
substantially contribute to this aim through their activities at the
level of study programs. Beyond that, a crucial need exists in the
recruitment and promotion of young researchers that can extend their
research profile and develop scientific independence by building up and
directing their own research groups. To this end, the BMBF since 2006
annually awards the highly renumerated and internationally advertised
Bernstein Award to excellent young researchers with outstanding
research ideas in the field of Computational Neuroscience. With the
award's funding of 1.25 million Euros they can establish their own
research group at a German research institution.